SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT - the stunning Sundance Special Jury Award winning kaleidoscopic doc of Jazz, Colonialism & Espionage
Nov 22 thru 25
Fri to Mon 5:00pm only!
Dir. Dir. Johan Grimonprez - 2024 - 150m - Belgium, France, Netherlands - In English, French, Dutch & Russian with English subtitles
United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez explores a moment when jazz, colonialism, and espionage collided, constructing a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. The result is a revelatory documentary richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons. Sundance award winner Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.
“A bravura cinematic essay that intertwines jazz, history, and the taste of a spy thriller… What Grimonprez creates here is a mind-blowingly rich tapestry of research, music, and the jazziest history lesson imaginable.”
- Harper's Bazaar
“A remarkable film – exhaustive, informative and rigorously researched, but also crackling with energy, ideas and formal daring.” - Screen